Improvement in baling-presses



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

GEORGE W. HART, OF AURORA, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BALING-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 51,043, dated November :21, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. HART, of Aurora, Dearborn county, Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Baling-Presses; and I do hereby declare the fol lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accom panying` drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to the class of balingpresses which employ a packer or beater, and relates chiefly to certain improvements in said packer and in the construction and operation of automatic feed-doors.

lFigure l is a perspective view ofa machine embodying'myimprovements. Fig.2 is avside elevation of a portion of the press, the packer being represented by vertical section.

A is a base or pedestal which supports and centers a massive column, B, to which are attached the tripper-wheel O and the sweep or tongue, D. The column B supports the entire frame E. The press-screw Y depends rigidly from the bottom of the follower Z, whose ascending and descending motions are derived from the simple ascent and descent, without rotation, of the said screw within asuitable nut properly secured to or within the column B.

The pressing-box is composed of the usual permanent sides F and doors G.

My feed-door H is automatically opened and closed once or lnore during the ascent of the packer I bythe following means J and K are arms of unequal breadth extending horizontally from the tripper-wheel C and sweep D, respectively, which arms, 4at each rounder circuit of the team, engage a lever, L, from whose upper extremity proceeds a cord, M, which, being rove through a self-adjusting sheaveblock, m, is attached to awheel, N, from oppo site ends of whose shaft nproject two arms, O and O', which are connected by pitmen P and P with wrists h and It ou the feeddoorH. The instant that the packer is lifted from the hay the short arm J commences to close the feeddoor H, and a charge ofgrain being at this moment fed in, the door, in the act of closing, dis` charges the said grain into the depressions made by the prints herein after described, when the door instantly falls open again to permitthe introduction of the succeeding charge of hay or other long forage, and is closed and heldshut by the comparatively broad arm K, while the packer descends upon the hay.

Q is a counter-balance having the adjustable weight, q, which acts to open the feed-door at the instant of relaxing the cord M, and subsequently acts to ease said door down to its lowest position.

R R are cheeks or plates in the form of quarter-circle segments, to prevent the escape of hay at the ends ofthe feed-door.

S is a looped cord, which, receiving the pin g on the end of the counter-balance, serves to hold the feed-door shut during the operation of hoopin g the bale.

H is an alternative feed-door, which may be used in place of the feed-door H. When the alternative feed-door H is used, the feed-door H is closed fast andthe parts N, n, O O', P P', Q, q, R R' and S, are shifted to the other side of the machine.

The packer I is run up and liberated for its descent by means of a tripper, T, trigger u, and cord o, whose arrangement and construction may be essentially the same as in my patent for improvementin hay and cotton presses patented the 15th day of December, 1863,' except that the tripper is made a substantial part of the machine by being attached to the pedestal, and is also made adjustable by the provision of a slot, t, and bolt t', so as to enable the release of the packer to take place at the precise instant desired. The Apacker I is made in the form of a box, so as to be of light weight, and easily transported from place to place, and which, when desired for use, can be made of any desired weight by the insertion of rocks, old castings, or other heavy articles.

W are projections upon the sole of the packer for making depressions in each successive layer of fodder to receive grain, when it is desired to make a mixed bale or one composed both of long and of short forage.

My box-packer may be still further adapted to the formation of Vmixed bales by converting it into a self-discharging grain box or hopper.

For the manufacture of ordinary bales the packer may be divested of the prints W, so as to leave aiiat sole or under surface to the packer.

Operation A bale having just been released from the press and its place supplied withloose hay, and the follower being at its most elevated position, (see Z, Fig. 2,) the team is started in direction of the arrow, so as to slowly depress the follower, and at the same time to commence to run up the packer. At the juncture the arm J, striking the lever L, acts to momentarily close the feed-door H, so as to conduct into the depressions that have been just made in the hay bythe prints W whatever grain may have been deposited by the operator upon the said door. This done, the feed-door again opens, and the packer continuing to ascend and the follower to slowly descend a charge of hay or other long forage is thrown into the box, and the lever L being engaged by the wide arm K the feed-door is thereby a second time closed and held shuta sufficient time for the packer to descend and compress the hay and, by the same act to form depressions for the next charge of grain. A round or circuit of the team having'loeen now made, the above operations are repeated, the follower all the time slowly descending until suiicient material has been inserted. The packer is then secured toits lowest position by any approved keys or latches, and the team being then reversed the main screw Y serves lto elevate the follower Z, the packer serving as a fixed abutment. When the bale has been sufficiently compressed the feed-door is closed by hand and is held shut by engaging the pin q in the loop S, and the doors G G being now opened, the bale is hooped. The team is then started a short distance in direction of the arrow, so as to slacken the pressure of the follower Z. The bale is removed preparatory to another fill.

It will be seen that in the open position of the door H, (see Fig. 1,) the counter-balance Q acts to nearly balance the said door, and that the same counter-balance and door, sim ultaneousl y approaching a vertical position, lose --weight together.

It is also apparent that in the closed position of the door, (see Fig. 2,) the arms O O and the rods P P are brought nearly coincident or at a dead-point, so as to hold the feeddoorHsecurely and tightly shut without severe strain on the cord M, and so as entirely to supersede the necessity of any latch or other positive fastening whose well-known liability to derangement has proved fatal to the use of self-closing feed-doors for baling presses.

It will also be perceived that the instant that the lever L drops from the arm K the first effect of the counter-balance Q is to start the door H promptly open, and that the said counter-balance then, by its weight acting in the other direction, opposes a too sudden falling open of the door.

The sheave-blook m, being pivoted tothe frame, accommodates itself to the stress of the rope M on whichever side the press is fed.

The hollow form of lthe packer I enables the saving of unnecessary weight in transportation, while admitting of any desired Weight in USG.

I claim herein as new and of my invention l. The mode of holding a self-operatin g feeddoor shut by the arms O O, and rods P P at or near a dead-center in the described combination With the self-starting and connterbalancig arm Q.

2. The plurality of-sweeps J and K of unequal width for operating a self-feeding door H to bale mixed forage, substantially as set 3. The hollow packer provided on its` under surface with projections or inequalities W, as specified.

4.. The reversible parts M, N, n, 0 O P P', Q, q q', R It, and S, in combination with the shifting sheave-block m, for operating either feeddoor H, as set forth.

In testimony' of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE W. HART. y

Witnesses:

JAMES H. LAYMAN, GEo. H. KNIGHT. 

